The government says it will take fluctuations in the value of the ruble and other currencies into account when determining the percentage of locally sourced components required in foreign automakers’ car-assembly operations....More

The increased activity comes on the heels of GM’s decision last year to increase overall capital spending 20%, an outlay hike in new-product spending that puts it on par with other leading global OEMs....More

Sergio Marchionne declines to reveal potential partners or whether he is in discussions with other OEMs, but says financial analysts must play role in promoting the need for industry consolidation....More

News Corp. Australia says production employees will be reduced to 1,260 from 1,530 and vehicle output will be reduced by 50 units to 240 a day. Parent General Motors is closing the plant in 2017....More

The government's stake in Renault stands at 19.74%, up from 15.01%, in a move designed to obtain the extra voting weight needed to block efforts to uphold the automaker's one-share, one-vote capital structure....More

Industry and Trade Minister Denis Manturov says GM’s relatively low 25% level of localization of sourcing, manufacturing activity and R&D hurt the automaker when the value of the ruble began sinking....More

At the core of CNH Industrial’s reorganization is the Iveco plant in Brescia, Italy, which assembles Eurocargo medium trucks. Sagging sales have left the facility with a surplus of workers to be assigned to the Suzzara, Italy, plant gaining Daily LCV work....More

Automakers support the government subsidies but also want regulations on assembly operations eased, support for new agreements with foreign manufacturers, resumption of preferential auto lending and limits on steel exports....More

MOSCOW, April 10 (Reuters) - U.S. auto maker Ford Motor Co
will take control of its Russian venture with Sollers
and provide it with additional financial support, the
Russian firm said on Friday.
Ford is taking control in exchange for preferred shares in
the Ford-Sollers venture, while its economic interest in the
venture remains unchanged at 50 percent, Sollers said.
The companies agreed the changes to the venture's
shareholder structure on March 31, Sollers said, without
providing any financial details of the transaction....More

The government says it temporarily is raising its stake in the automaker from 15% to 19.7% to secure double voting rights for itself and other long-term investors ahead of an April 30 shareholders meeting....More

BMW and Ford each have two stout turbo-6s in the hunt this year, while Infiniti has one. All five are smooth, extremely refined, reasonably fuel-efficient and dishing up loads of horsepower and torque....More

We call out vehicles with problematic fit-and-finish, materials, ergonomics or unfortunate design choices. Each of these items resulted in points deducted as WardsAuto editors selected the 2016 Wards 10 Best Interiors.